News from Spoonflower about custom fabric printing, sewing, crafters and crafting. The official blog of Spoonflower.com, a service that prints custom fabric on-demand.

August 19, 2013

Messenger bag makeover

Mariah from Everything Golden visits to share a simple vintage army messenger bag update using a mix of custom and vintage fabric scraps. Get the how to and head back to school with a creative book bag to haul your gear!

Hi there, it’s Mariah from Everything Golden. In the spirit of heading back to school, I thought I’d spruce up a vintage army messenger bag with some custom Spoonflower fabric. I designed the orange fabric and used a piece of vintage scrap fabric for the flap. You can purchase the orange design here, or design your own custom print!

What you’ll need:

1. Any bag you’d like to update

2. Fabric, 2 square pieces and 2 triangle pieces

3. Snap or regular button

4. Needle and thread

5. Scissors

6. Iron

I wanted my pocket to fit my phone so I measured the fabric to ensure it would fit, leaving at least 1” seam allowance on all sides.

Place the two square pieces together, both right sides facing up. Separately fold the two top edges down using an iron and sew a seam on the edge that faces up. Then fold the remaining three sides under, and iron. Then place the triangle pieces together, right sides facing each other, and sew all sides leaving about 2” open so you can turn it right side out.

Place your square piece and your triangular flap together and pin to your bag. Sew the edge of the top back square piece with the triangle flap tucked under and sew the rest of the sides.

With a needle and thread hand sew your snaps and voila, you're done!

About Our Guest Author

Mariah is a creative wanderer in design, photography, and style A nature lover to the core she grew up in Sun Valley, Idaho, spent some time in Colorado and is now happy at home in Bozeman, Montana, wher her laser physicist husband and a smarty pants border collie named Indie. Her biggest source of inspriation is found in the solace of the mountains.

Comments

Messenger bag makeover

Mariah from Everything Golden visits to share a simple vintage army messenger bag update using a mix of custom and vintage fabric scraps. Get the how to and head back to school with a creative book bag to haul your gear!

Hi there, it’s Mariah from Everything Golden. In the spirit of heading back to school, I thought I’d spruce up a vintage army messenger bag with some custom Spoonflower fabric. I designed the orange fabric and used a piece of vintage scrap fabric for the flap. You can purchase the orange design here, or design your own custom print!

What you’ll need:

1. Any bag you’d like to update

2. Fabric, 2 square pieces and 2 triangle pieces

3. Snap or regular button

4. Needle and thread

5. Scissors

6. Iron

I wanted my pocket to fit my phone so I measured the fabric to ensure it would fit, leaving at least 1” seam allowance on all sides.

Place the two square pieces together, both right sides facing up. Separately fold the two top edges down using an iron and sew a seam on the edge that faces up. Then fold the remaining three sides under, and iron. Then place the triangle pieces together, right sides facing each other, and sew all sides leaving about 2” open so you can turn it right side out.

Place your square piece and your triangular flap together and pin to your bag. Sew the edge of the top back square piece with the triangle flap tucked under and sew the rest of the sides.

With a needle and thread hand sew your snaps and voila, you're done!

About Our Guest Author

Mariah is a creative wanderer in design, photography, and style A nature lover to the core she grew up in Sun Valley, Idaho, spent some time in Colorado and is now happy at home in Bozeman, Montana, wher her laser physicist husband and a smarty pants border collie named Indie. Her biggest source of inspriation is found in the solace of the mountains.